The problems of climate change and how they affect indigenous communities, told by them themselves, camera in hand, and in documentary and fiction format is what the IndiFest film festival brings to Barcelona. Those who, in many cases, inhabit the Amazon areas and other places of special natural protection bring out their audiovisual talent and tell without intermediaries how they live and what their struggle is that they carry out every day to safeguard their environment.
Elisenda Triadó, the person in charge of the XVI edition of the festival, says that “the climate emergency is something that affects us all very closely. It is a global phenomenon, but we wanted to show how it is experienced by indigenous peoples because of the way they understand nature.” Bringing these narratives seeks to bring Catalan society new ways of understanding nature and talking about the damage that has been caused to indigenous peoples with the creation of sacrifice zones, environmental racism, among other problems present in the IndiFest films. “The festival seeks to bring these ideas to Catalan society and speak about them from the vision of indigenous peoples. “They are the most affected by something that they did not cause,” she adds.
The presentation in Spain of We are Guardians was the first of the billboard of 51 films divided between documentary films, fiction and short films that can be seen for free until October 21, the day when the closing party and delivery will be held. of the awards.
The IndiFest, which began in 2006, aims to disseminate audiovisual pieces, which are frequently postponed. “It was born precisely from an activity of the organization when working with indigenous peoples. The intention is to show works produced by indigenous peoples and that can tell their own narratives without the intervention of third parties,” says Triadó. Furthermore, this version seeks to expand the festival’s audience. For the first time, the activities will be taken to different cities in Catalonia. “We have the expectation of reaching an audience beyond Barcelona and leaving the cultural epicenter,” she adds. For this reason, the first week will be held at the Cines Girona and the second week of the festival will be outside Barcelona, ??in spaces such as the Santa Llúcia room in Reus and the Cinema Catalunya in Terrassa.
The film that opened the festival promoted by the Coordinator of Cinema and Communication of Indigenous Peoples (Clacpi) and AlterNativa was We are Guardians, a Brazilian film directed by Edivan Guajajara along with Chelsea Greene and Rob Grabman. The film follows forest guardian Marçal Guajajara and activist Puyr Tembé in their fight to protect forests from deforestation and illegal logging in an area frequented by the extractive industry such as the Amazon. This film represents what the festival seeks to convey. “It is a film co-directed between indigenous people and non-indigenous people, but from the indigenous perspective. It shows different voices and serves to talk about all the issues linked to the climate emergency. In this case in the Amazon, where there is extractivism and a conservation site in constant threat,” says the person in charge of the festival. “We are Guardians talks about these conflicts and has not yet been released in Spain, but it has been around the world,” she adds.
In addition, you will be able to see projections such as Bones of Crows, a Canadian production that deals with the complexity of entering the school system as an indigenous person and the problems that this entails; Chatdÿe Tsimane (Pariente Chimán), a documentary made by Manuel Seoane, a Bolivian photographer who follows the life of the Chimán people and their relationship with the forest and deforestation, and the film Itu Ninu, an indigenous science fiction film directed by the Mexican Itandehui Jansen. The festival will also feature activities for children, short film screenings and discussions with international guests such as Nelly Kuira, general coordinator of Clacpi and Melvin Picón, a member of the Mayan Q’eqchi’ people and collaborator of the Association of Community Health Services of Guatemala.
